Evidence from credible sources supports the statement as accurate. Learn more in Methodology.
Caroline Crenshaw is no longer serving as an SEC Commissioner.
The claim is that Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw has departed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The relevant timeframe is early January 2026, aligned with the requested follow‑up date of 2026-01-05.
Multiple reputable trade and industry outlets report that Crenshaw has left the agency. ThinkAdvisor reported on 2 January 2026 that the SEC announced Caroline Crenshaw, the agency’s only Democratic commissioner, “has left the agency,” noting her term had expired in 2024 and that commissioners may serve up to 18 months beyond term expiry.
The National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) reported on 5 January 2026 that “Former Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw departed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the start of the new year,” specifying she served as commissioner until 3 January 2026. This article also explains that she had been nominated for a second term but that the nomination stalled in the Senate.
DL News, citing an SEC statement, reported on 3 January 2026 that Caroline Crenshaw, the lone Democratic and crypto‑skeptic commissioner, “will depart from the regulator,” adding that the SEC said she was leaving after more than a decade of service. The SEC itself published a statement titled “Statement on Departure of Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw,” underscoring that the agency formally recognizes her departure, even though direct automated access to the full text is rate‑limited.
These consistent accounts from multiple independent, policy‑focused outlets, combined with the SEC’s own labelled departure statement, strongly support that Crenshaw is no longer serving as an SEC commissioner as of early January 2026. The claim that Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has departed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is therefore fulfilled.
Crenshaw’s departure is significant because it leaves the SEC’s five-member commission with only three sitting members and no Democrats, creating an all‑Republican panel. This has implications for policy direction and quorum management, particularly in contentious areas such as cryptocurrency regulation and private-market investment policy, where she had previously been a consistent skeptic and investor‑protection advocate.